Eco-Schools At Home

Activities you can do at home based on the Ten Eco-Schools Topics. Inspired by some of our favourite examples from school assessments and adapted for families.

Seven Elements

Environmental Review

The Environmental Review investigates what your environment is like right now so you can decide what you might like to change. Answer these few questions to find out what your household is doing well and where you want to make improvements. You can print this out or fill it in on your screen. You can also make your own Review.

Make an Action Plan of the projects you would like to try at home. Add to it as you go through your projects. You can bring this to school to add to your Green Flag Award application. You do not have to use our template, but if you make your own make sure it has all the same information on it.

Litter

Litter Survey

A litter survey helps us discover where and what types of litter are causing a problem in our community. We then have a better idea of how to fix the problem. An activity for families to do at home to support Eco-Schools activities at school.

Waste Minimisation

Single Use Plastic

Even though a large part of the plastic that we use can go into the recycling bin, the collection of these bins might be altered as some local authorities won’t have the usual number of people working, and some waste centres will be closed. So what better time to look into alternatives to recycling!

As Scotland adapts to Coronavirus, and some of us help by staying at home, many others are helping by continuing with their essential work. Some of these jobs involve the collection of waste and recycling from households and roadsides. Can you imagine what the impact would be on all of us if these services were withdrawn?

Biodiversity

Hurray for Dandelions!

Dandelions are widely considered terrible weeds, but they are full of wonderful properties for people and a fantastic early source of pollen and nectar for insects who have been waiting hungrily all through the winter.

We share out environment with thousands of other species who often need our help to make sure they can survive. One of the easiest ways we can all help is by simply looking out for and identifying different types of wildlife around where we live.

Following on from Wildlife Watch Part 1, we are now going to look at how we can care for an animal that lives near us. We could decide to help them out with a new habitat, or maybe better access to food? The tricky part is figuring out the best way to help them.

Energy

Energy Investigators

Understanding of where energy comes from and how not to waste it is key to reducing our carbon emissions. How Scotland and all other countries choose to change to a low carbon/clean energy future is extremely important to the success of combating climate change.

Sometimes it is easy to forget that leaving a light or tv on when we leave the room has impacts on the environments. If we could all reduce our energy usage to only what we need rather than wasting energy, then that would significantly reduce our carbon emissions.

Water

Water Calculators Activity

Many people think that since it rains in Scotland all the time, there is no need to avoid wasting water, but saving water helps to save energy. Have a look at how much water your household uses and see if there are ways you could cut down your use.